SAN FRANCISCO—Monday, June 13, 2011— San Francisco Ballet’s Board of Trustees announced the election of John S. Osterweis as the new chair of the Board and Executive Committee for a three-year term beginning July 1, 2011. For the current fiscal year which ends June 30, 2011, Mr. Osterweis has served as chair-designate.

Mr. Osterweis will take over from current Board Chair Richard C. Barker, who has served in that position since July 1, 2008. Mr. Barker was named Immediate Past Chair, effective following the conclusion of his term. Mr. Osterweis, Mr. Barker, and Chair Emeritus Chris Hellman will serve alongside Vice Chair and Treasurer J. Stuart Francis; Vice Chairs Margaret G. Gill, Lucy Jewett, James D. Marver, Carl F. Pascarella, Robert M. Smelick, and Diane B. Wilsey; Secretary Jennifer J. McCall; and Assistant Secretary Susan S. Briggs, who were each elected to a three-year term in their respective positions.

The change in leadership coincides with the start of San Francisco Ballet’s five-year strategic plan, which covers the 2012 through 2016 fiscal years.

“I look forward to helping realize [San Francisco Ballet Artistic Director & Principal Choreographer] Helgi Tomasson’s artistic vision for the Company and School as we embark on a new long-range plan,” Mr. Osterweis said. “Sustaining the current level of artistic excellence is at the core of the plan. The Board is committed to the fiscal discipline and ambitious fundraising that will be needed to ensure that this civic treasure remains a source of pride for San Francisco and the whole Bay Area community.”

“John brings a wealth of leadership experience from the for-profit and non-profit sectors to his new position at San Francisco Ballet,” said San Francisco Ballet Executive Director Glenn McCoy. “His longstanding service to the Ballet makes him uniquely qualified to take on the responsibilities of the chair. He and Dick Barker have worked closely together this fiscal year to ensure a smooth transition of leadership, and his involvement in the strategic planning process will give him a running start in the implementation of the plan.” Mr. McCoy added, “The Ballet owes an enormous debt of gratitude to Dick for his leadership. Through his vigilance, the Ballet made it through the recent financial crisis with its artistic programming stronger than ever. He leaves the Ballet in a solid position, ready to embark on our new long-range institutional plan.”

Mr. Osterweis joined the San Francisco Ballet Board in 1987 and has served on committees such as Executive, Finance, Long-Range Planning, and Planned Giving. He was chair of the 75th Anniversary, and was a co-chair of the “Preserving a San Francisco Jewel” Campaign in the mid-1990s, which substantially increased the size of San Francisco Ballet’s Endowment.

Mr. Osterweis is founder, chairman and chief investment officer of Osterweis Capital Management. Prior to Osterweis Capital, he worked at several brokerage firms as an analyst and director of research. In addition to San Francisco Ballet, Mr. Osterweis serves as a board member of the San Francisco Free Clinic and San Francisco Jewish Community Federation, and is director emeritus of Summer Search Foundation and Bowdoin College. He holds a B.A. from Bowdoin College and an M.B.A. from Stanford University.

Since joining the San Francisco Ballet Board of Trustees in 2003, Mr. Barker has held several leadership positions on the Board, serving as treasurer and chair of the Finance Committee from 2005 to 2008, and as chair of the Board since 2008. He has also served on the San Francisco Ballet Endowment Foundation Board since 2004.

During his term as Board chair, Mr. Barker oversaw the planning process for San Francisco Ballet’s new strategic plan. He steered the organization through the economic turmoil of 2008-09 without compromising the artistic programming. During this period, the Company added 17 new works to the repertory, including three full-length productions: Helgi Tomasson’s new Swan Lake, John Neumeier’s The Little Mermaid, which was recorded for international broadcast, and Alexandra Danilova and George Balanchine’s Coppélia. The organization continued its ambitious touring program, including a five-city U.S. tour in the fall of 2008 as part of San Francisco Ballet’s 75th Anniversary Celebration, and a three-week tour to China in 2009, of which Mr. Barker was a major sponsor.

Mr. Barker was associated with The Capital Group for 34 years. He retired as Vice Chairman of Capital Group International Inc. He was past Chairman of Capital International Ltd., and Capital Guardian Trust Company. He serves as an overseer of the Watson Institute for International Studies at Brown and is a Trustee of Brown University and the BASIC Fund. He is a former trustee of the Naval War College Foundation, Marin General Hospital Foundation, California Film Institute, and the Branson School (past board president). Mr. Barker graduated from Brown University and served as a Naval Aviation Officer.

San Francisco Ballet Endowment Foundation Board
In order to assume his duties as chair of the San Francisco Ballet Board, Mr. Osterweis will step down as president of the San Francisco Endowment Foundation Board, a position he has held for over twenty years. During his tenure, San Francisco Ballet’s endowment experienced unprecedented growth, contributing significantly to the development of the Ballet and the San Francisco Ballet School. In recognition of his long service and his achievements on behalf of the endowment, the Endowment Foundation Board created the honorary title of president emeritus and conferred it upon Mr. Osterweis at the completion of his term as president. Mr. Osterweis will remain a director of the Endowment Foundation Board.

The Endowment Foundation Board elected James D. Marver, a 15-year member of that Board, to succeed Mr. Osterweis as president as of July 1, 2011. Mr. Marver is also a vice chair of the San Francisco Ballet Board of Trustees, which he joined in 1994, and was co-chair of the Ballet’s recent $45 million capital campaign. Mr. Marver is co-founder and managing director of VantagePoint Capital Partners. Previously, he ran global technology groups at two investment banks and was a senior consultant at Stanford Research Institute. Mr. Marver sits on several corporate and non-profit boards. He earned a B. A. at Williams College and Ph. D. at the University of California at Berkeley.

About San Francisco Ballet
As America’s oldest professional ballet company and one of the three largest ballet companies in the United States, San Francisco Ballet has enjoyed a long and rich tradition of artistic “firsts” since its founding in 1933. It performed the first American productions of Swan Lake and Nutcracker, as well as the first production of Coppélia choreographed by an American choreographer. Guided in its early years by American dance pioneers and brothers Lew, Willam, and Harold Christensen, San Francisco Ballet currently presents more than 100 performances a year locally, nationally, and abroad. Under the direction of Helgi Tomasson for twenty-five years, the Company has achieved an international reputation as one of the preeminent ballet companies in the world. In 2005, San Francisco Ballet won the prestigious Laurence Olivier Award, its first, in the category of “Outstanding Achievement in Dance,” and a year later, was the first non-European company elected “Company of the Year” in Dance Europe magazine’s annual readers’ poll. In 2008, San Francisco Ballet celebrated its 75th anniversary with a host of initiatives that included a New Works Festival of 10 world premieres by 10 renowned choreographers. 2010 marked the 25th anniversary of SF Ballet Artistic Director Helgi Tomasson’s tenure with the Company.